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Tens of thousands of New Zealand households have deferred or reduced mortgage repayments since the nationwide lockdown began, new figures show.

On Friday the New Zealand Bankers' Association published aggregated data on how many customershad cut repayments or had their payments deferred altogether.

Sometimes described as a "mortgage holiday", a Government-approved scheme enables banks to allow customers to reduce or suspend mortgage repayments for up to six months, without the Reserve Bank considering those loans to be non-performing when assessing bank solvency. The interest on the loans continues to accrue.

"We fully support the bold actions taken by the Government and the Reserve Bank so far. They have helped free up the financial system so we can focus on dealing with the crisis. "

The NZBA is expected to continue to publish updated figures on its website.

On Thursday, Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr told MPs that New Zealand was " lucky to have the banks that we have " with the sector estimated to have around $100b in capital over and above regulatory minimums.

But he urged the banks to consider their "social responsibility" and long-term sustainability, because of their influence on the economy.

Earlier in the week, Finance Minister Grant Robertson told business leaders that it had taken some time to get documentation for the business loan scheme completed.